Free Republic

SNIPPET: "Two Kenyan aid workers and a Somali doctor were kidnapped in lawless northern Somalia on Wednesday, probably by pirates, police said. The kidnapping occurred near the city of Galkayo, which straddles the border separating the semi-autonomous state of Puntland and the separate region of Galmudug to the south." SNIPPET: "A second Galkayo police official, Mohammed Ise Hassan, said the kidnapping took place on Wednesday afternoon near the village of Baadweyn, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the city. Hassan said a driver and two police escorts were also wounded during the incident. Several employees from aid agencies and...

Hardline Sunni Cleric Arrested in Baghdad By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. troops, have arrested a hardline Sunni cleric and about two dozen others after a raid of his Baghdad mosque uncovered weapons caches along with photographs of recent attacks on American troops, the U.S. military and the Iraqi National Guard said. AP Photo Sheik Mahdi al-Sumaidaei, the head of the Supreme Association for Guidance and Daawa, a conservative Sunni organization, was detained Thursday, along with 25 others, the U.S. military said. The raid took place at the Um al-Tuboul...